Leeds United secured Premier League safety with games to spare this season and had nothing riding on the game against West Ham on the final day of the season.
The Hammers beat Leeds 3-0 at home on the final day. However, it was not enough to keep them in the Premier League because of Tottenham’s 1-0 win over Everton at the other end of London.
West Ham’s 14-year stay in the Premier League has come to an end, and they will now prepare to play in the Championship just two years after winning a European trophy.
The club will need to sell players to make ends meet in the Championship, and there will be cuts behind the scenes as well to cut costs for a team that play in a 60,000-seater stadium.
Gary Neville references Leeds United while discussing West Ham’s demise
Daniel Farke indicated after the game that injuries played a part in Leeds’ performance on the final day. But the result didn’t do anything to dampen the mood.
However, Gary Neville has admitted that while all the focus was on Tottenham, it is easy to forget that West Ham going down is a big story as well.
He believes it would have been more of a story if West Ham were fighting one of the promoted teams, such as Leeds, instead of Tottenham for survival in the final weeks of the season.
“Because of Tottenhama and the predicament they have been in the last month, West Ham have been part of it”, Neville said on his podcast for Sky Sports.
“But they have not been part of it to the extent they would have been in if they were going through with a Burnley or Wolves, and Sunderland or Leeds – clubs of that ilk.
“Those clubs that have done brilliantly well to stay up this year.”
Leeds need to learn from West Ham’s demise
Tottenham and West Ham’s struggles this season are a red herring for any club that may feel too comfortable in the Premier League.
It’s a lesson for Leeds that they can neither afford to stand still nor waste millions in the transfer window on the wrong players in order to progress.
Leeds chairman Paraag Marathe has already indicated that the club will continue to follow their careful and deliberate recruitment policies despite the need to do more to stay ahead of the pack.
West Ham are the perfect example of what Leeds need to avoid in the market while recruiting players to improve the squad.
